There is a very fin de siecle feel about The Illusionist. An ageing magician leaves his native France in search of work on stage, becoming increasingly desperate for gigs. His profession as a music hall artist in the late 1950s is coming to an end with the advent of rock and roll and more exciting entertainment for young people.

After one of his shows on a remote Scottish island, a jukebox is plugged into the corner of the room as he leaves, a clear indication that his time has come. But it is on this island that he meets Alice, a young girl who still believes in his magic. Alice follows him to Edinburgh where he conjures up increasingly more expensive gifts for her in order to keep up the magical illusion, and in the process is forced to take on increasingly more menial jobs.

The Illusionist is based on a script written by Jacques Tati which he had kept in a drawer until his death in 1982. It has been brought to the big screen in quite glorious animation by Sylvain Chomet, best known for his previous animated feature Belleville Rendezvous.

Although the original script was not intended to be turned into an animation, after watching The Illusionist there really is no other way to imagine it having been made. From the streets of Paris to Edinburgh, via London and the Western Isles, the meticulously-researched historical locations have all been drawn in sumptuous detail, populated by some wonderful characters.

Taticheff the illusionist, based on Tati and who meets his real self for a few seconds when he wanders into a cinema, is a man of few words. He chooses to keep Alice by his side – even though she is virtually bankrupting him – because of her childlike belief in him. But childhood always comes to an end and the bright-eyed Scottish lassie that follows him to Edinburgh becomes, with his help, a finely-dressed young lady with no love of magic but a love of money and fine clothes.

The illusionist is left only with his fat and grumpy rabbit as he contemplates the end of an era, and the coming of a new dawn with no place for him.

Poignant and bittersweet, The Illusionist is a cinematic triumph, the likes of which are today rarely seen.

The Illusionist is playing now at the Watershed. Belleville Rendezvous is being shown at a special midday screening at the Watershed on Sunday, August 29.